


Rate My Professor

by immen_sity



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Humor? idk if i was successful, Love, Random & Short, first fic ever so i'm super nervous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:28:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27678767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immen_sity/pseuds/immen_sity
Summary: NYU Law professor Rafael Barba reads his Rate My Professor Reviews for the first time. Takes place post-19x13.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Olivia Benson
Comments: 15
Kudos: 77





	Rate My Professor

**Author's Note:**

> Rafael leaves the DA's office and starts a teaching position at NYU. Olivia decides to show him his Rate My Professor reviews.  
> ________________________________
> 
> Hi everyone! I'm new to the Barson fanfic world but have read so many gorgeous works on here and wanted to try this out. This is my very first fic ever and I'm a little nervous about uploading it here, but I hope y'all like it. It's been ages since I did any form of creative writing; hopefully I'll get better at this as time goes by.
> 
> Thanks in advance for reading!

"Gosh, Rafa. Look at these reviews," Olivia said incredulously as she peered at her laptop screen.

"What reviews?" he asked. He draped his jacket over the sofa and sat down next to her.

"These reviews on Rate My Professor." When Rafael frowned quizzically, she explained, "We were looking into a Hudson professor who was accused of harassing his more popular colleagues, and one of the students told me to check his Rate My Professor page as evidence that this guy was hated by his students."

Rafael looked at the screen. "Most boring professor ever. He rambles on and on and doesn't even bother to make Powerpoint slides. Puts zero effort into his classes. TOUGH GRADER - AVOID AT ALL COSTS," he read out, dramatically emphasising the sentence in all caps. "'Whoa, this is _horrible_ \- 'Should not be a professor. He has literally no redeeming qualities and is a bad person overall. His tests are too hard.' Good God, students these days are brutal. But this professor also sounds like a complete asshole. Remind me _not_ to send Noah to Hudson," he sighed. This professor had received a deluge of terrible reviews, leaving his rating a paltry 1.2/5.

"Come on, don't tell me you weren't thinking the same things about your professors at Harvard," she teased. "You probably were the most argumentative student ever. Did you negotiate with them when you didn't get an A?"

"Hey, I _earned_ all the As I got. No negotiation needed," he said smugly as he playfully slapped her arm.

"Yes, yes, Mr. Summa Cum Laude. Have you ever read _your_ Rate My Professor reviews?" She typed his name into the search bar and hovered over the suggested result - _Rafael Barba, New York University_.

"God, please don't click that. I don't want to read them." He got up from their couch, intending to duck into the kitchen for a glass of scotch, only for Olivia to gently tug on his arm for him to stay.

"But _I_ want to read them." She laughed and clicked on his name, giggling even further when he placed his hands over his eyes and turned away. "I've never gotten a chance to see you teach." As much as Olivia was curious about Rafael's teaching, she didn't want to distract or unnerve him, and was content watching him pore over his notes and lecture slides in the comfort of their apartment. He was nowhere near as busy as he was before, but still spent great amounts of time on his lessons.

"I hope no one bothered to leave a review," he said dryly as the page loaded. "Better to have no reviews at all than a ton of bad ones, right?" He didn't want to admit that he actually was curious about how his students were finding his classes. But this job opportunity had been such a blessing to him and Olivia, and he didn't want to lose all motivation if he found out that his students hated his classes. It was the same way he'd felt during his time at the DA's office, even if he never showed it to anyone except his wife. No matter how polished and prepared he looked in court, his fear of losing - or worse, looking like a fool - never quite disappeared, even with two decades of experience.

Olivia gasped. "Look, you got a 4.7 out of 5. That's pretty impressive, Rafa!" Apparently... you "give good feedback", have "clear grading criteria", and are... "inspirational"," she beamed, emphasising the "inspirational". "80% of your students would take your class again."

"Wait, really?" He wanted to make a witty comeback, but was too surprised by what he saw on the page to think of one. He slid closer to her and grabbed the laptop from her arms.

Truthfully, she had already given in to her curiosity and looked up his page in her office over lunch that afternoon. But she wanted him to see them for himself. Olivia knew that Rafael still felt green around the gills about his new career in academia, having left his first - and only - job at the DA's office a year ago. He'd toiled through the summer preparing his classes, and then a fall semester of fretting about grading papers, delivering lectures and organising office hours, fearful of blowing his second chance at a career. Olivia was relieved to see that throwing himself into a new job helped her husband immensely with the grief of the Drew Householder case. Rafael's spark - the same air of confidence that drew her to him all those years ago when he waltzed into the courtroom - was finally returning, but she also knew that he could use some affirmation that wasn't her encouragement.

"He just knows his stuff. He's extremely smart, a fair grader, and gives really interesting lectures. You'll have to work hard, but it's so worth it to learn from him," she read out. "Another one - 'His experience speaks for itself. He's got a great analytical mind and takes his students' opinions and suggestions seriously, so discussions are always fruitful. And he's funny'. Ooh, and I love this one - 'Barba is one of the best professors I've had in law school. He's the reason I want to pursue a career in criminal law. Take his classes, you won't regret it.' It looks like your students love you, babe." She planted a kiss on his cheek and observed as he scrolled through the rest of the glowing reviews, smiling from ear from ear.

"Wow, I really didn't expect to see all this." Olivia knew that he was genuinely touched seeing all those reviews. It felt different from the praise he got in the press or from Jack McCoy, or even the families of the victims he'd sought justice for. To know that he was helping shape, and even inspire, the next generation of lawyers and ADAs, was immensely rewarding to him. Rafael had practiced law for so long that he'd almost forgotten what drew him to the profession in the first place. His own law school professors had no small part to play in fuelling his passion and idealism, but he never imagined stepping into that position himself. He wasn't sure how good a professor he'd make, or if the Householder scandal was going to follow him to Greenwich Village, but his students didn't seem to care. All they saw was Professor Barba who knew his stuff and crafted interesting lessons, not a disgraced former ADA or worse, baby-killer.

Olivia felt her heart swell with pride looking at him. "I'm proud of you, Rafa. I know that reviews aren't everything, but your students seem to love your teaching. You make a great professor."

He wrapped an arm around her. "I couldn't have done it without you, Liv. I'd never have applied for the job if not for you."

"NYU is lucky to have you."

" _And_ my suits, apparently." He hovered the cursor over one especially _interesting_ review.

"HIS SUITS. Definitely the most stylish professor at NYU. Dude rocks suspenders and ties like no other. Law is ten times more exciting when your professor is eye candy. He's even hotter when he talks. Take this class." She couldn't help but giggle. 

"This student doesn't even mention my teaching! All that effort for them to look only at my clothes..." he grumbled in mock annoyance. "But my suspenders appreciate the shout-out."

Olivia cheekily ran her fingers down the navy blue pair he had on. Too often he'd been made fun of by his peers and defendants for his flashy fashion choices, but she loved how unapologetic he was about dressing up for work. "Style _and_ substance. Good call not selling your suits to the consignment shop."

"Good call listening to my wife's advice to get off the couch and actually use the seven years of college education I got."

"Good call reading your Rate My Professor reviews."

He stopped laughing and his voice went soft. "Thank you for showing them to me, Liv." He planted a gentle kiss on her lips.

"I love you, _Professor_ Barba."

"I love you too."


End file.
